October 5, 2016

This week, Kubiak noted how the Broncos think of the season in quarters, looking at the season in 4 game chunks. Since we sit squarely between the first two quarters of the season, let's look back at the first, and anticipate what's to come in the second:

1st Quarter Review:

Not sure you could find much to complain about how the first quarter of the season went. Not only do the Broncos look stronger than they did at this time a year ago, they seem to have carried over all their momentum from the peak in the playoffs.

After a narrow win in the first week carried by a strong defensive performance, the Broncos look more and more balanced, with both offense and defense contributing. The offense is not dominant enough carry the team the way the defense can, but they are finding a rhythm and doing a better job of capitalizing on the opportunities the defense hands them. This team could win a game even when the offense has an off week.

2nd Quarter Preview:

Of course every Broncos game is worth watching, but each game of the second quarter notches that up with a certain intrigue:

Week 5: Falcons at Broncos — Matt Ryan is the 1st quarter MVP as Kyle Shanahan returns to Denver coordinating a soaring Falcons' offense. This will be as good of a test as the Broncos have faced, and I can't wait to watch.

Week 6: Broncos at Chargers — A Thursday night game anticipated for throwback helmets (almost) and color rush uniforms. Much like the Broncos find ways to win, the Chargers seem to find ways to lose. But, a divisional game on the road is never a sure thing.

Week 7: Texans at Broncos — From Thursday night to Monday night and Brock is coming to town without JJ Watt. I don't see this one going well for the Texans.

Week 8: Chargers at Broncos — Playing a division opponent twice in a three week span is a rare challenge. The Broncos have the leadership to overcome the 'trap game' scenario. Even so, I'm glad this one is in Denver and not the other way around.

A few notes:

Any team can win any given week in the NFL, so 7-1 would be a fine way to finish the second quarter. But 8-0 looks like a possibility.

The most interesting storyline will be the QB position, especially if Siemien's injured shoulder bothers him the next few weeks. Kubiak remains committed to Siemien (as do I), but if Lynch gets more reps and progresses, he will get harder to keep off the field.

October 4, 2016

The best thing about the Broncos right now is their unwavering confidence. When quarterback Brock Osweiler bolted to Houston in free agency, Siemian emerged as a viable replacement after winning a three-man quarterback competition throughout the offseason. When key defensive players like defensive tackle Malik Jackson and linebacker Danny Trevathan also signed with other teams, the Broncos simply plugged in new players and kept plugging away. Then Siemian goes down on Sunday and Lynch does just enough to help them win, including throwing the first touchdown pass of his NFL career.This is what great teams do. They don’t worry about the circumstances. They focus on solutions. The Broncos might have been perilously close to not even making the playoffs last season — which is easy to forget in the wake of their Super Bowl win — but they’ve been on fire ever since January. At this point, it’s hard to not wonder what or who actually is going to slow them down.

After all the doubters in the offseason, the national media is starting to recognize that the loss of some key contributors isn’t as big of a factor as expected. As one who follows the team closely, it is the culture that this team has built that has them still contending. Yes, some key contributors were lost, but the team culture is stronger than ever, perhaps buoyed by the storyline that players still didn’t think they got enough respect in the offseason.

October 3, 2016

Well, if we couldn’t say the Falcons offense was for real after three games, we can say it now. They thrashed the Panthers 48–33 on Sunday, as Matt Ryan threw for 503 yards and four touchdowns, Julio Jones reeled in 12 catches for 300 yards, and the offense put up 571 yards of offense against the previously sixth-ranked Carolina defense.

Before the season, I wouldn’t have guessed that the Falcons would be the most potent test in the first six games. This weekend is going to be a fun one.

Aqib Talib: His first interception set the tone for the game. His second one clinched it.

Derek Wolfe: Two and a half sacks and lots of applause from the national press today.

The Third Quarter: Bucs held to -14 yards of offense.

Demaryius Thomas: Offense finally breaks in here. It looked like he could make something happen every time he touched the ball. And for the first time in a while, no blatant drops.

Von Miller: When is “holding calls against” going to be a statistic? I count at least three in the last two weeks.

Okung and Sambrailo: Both get good scores from Pro Football Focus. Okung gets a gameball from Kubiak and Samrailo looking settled after so much time away.

Trevor Siemien: Looked good before the injury. Gets the ranking for cheering on Lynch like a confident starter expecting to return to the field next week.

Paxton Lynch: Some great reps against a live opponent to build his confidence and experience. I still would like to see him under center more.

Shaq Barrett: He only played about half the snaps but seemed to be making a play on all of them.

Emmanuel Sanders: Lynch clearly has a lot of comfort with him. Like Thomas, looks like he can make something happen every time he touches the ball.

Worth mentions: Andy Janovich, CJ Anderson, Devontae Booker, Chris Harris, Brandon Marshall, TJ Ward, sheesh…everybody, Demarcus Ware as a judge on Chopped Jr., only undefeated team in the AFC, no turnovers, The First Quarter, The Second Quarter, The Fourth Quarter

I see this as the best thing that could have happened for Paxton Lynch’s development. He got a half of successful football experience. He goes back to the bench to learn with a new level confidence to build on.

February 13, 2016

What might tip the scales to this Denver defense are the teams it beat in the postseason to win it all. The Broncos beat the Steelers, Patriots and Panthers. They were the first-, third- and fourth-best scoring teams in the league.

I’ve read thousands of words in the last week to soak in post championship revelry. This is the most common topic, and it’s hard to bypass this argument. Sure, the stats might support other teams of years past, but maybe for these three games, this was the best defensive playoff run if only because of who they did it against.